Sepia Saturday 640. Eighth in a series about family history discoveries in the recently released 1950 U.S. census.
Census enumerations capture our ancestors at a particular point in time and can often lead to exciting discoveries. Yet when older ancestors appear in a census, their earlier life accomplishments are usually missing – children have left home, they may be winding down careers with transition jobs, or they are unemployed elders in a younger household.
Thus, while I was excited to find my paternal grandparents, William Ray and Mary Frances “Molly” (Owen) Charboneau, in the 1950 US census, I was also aware of all that was missing. So, I’ve decided to move backwards in time to tell their story.
My paternal grandparents in 1950
In 1950, Ray, 62, and Molly, 61, lived in Holland Patent, N.Y. – a small hamlet at the intersection of Routes 274, 291 and 365 in Town of Trenton, Oneida Co., N.Y.
Their home at 105 Elm St. (now 7901 Elm St.) was a small property close to Main St., where my grandfather worked in a grocery store owned by his sons Owen and Frederic. In fact, he lived close enough to walk to and from work.
My grandparents’ census enumeration
| Name | Age | Born | Job | Worked | Details |
| Charboneau, William R. | 62 | N.Y. | Wk. | 60 hrs. | clerk, retail grocery |
| Charboneau, Mary | 61 | Md. | H. | — | — |
From their census enumeration, my Grandpa and Grandma Charboneau might seem pretty basic – he worked as a clerk and she was a homemaker. Nothing special, although I was impressed that Ray put in 60 hours the week before the census was taken!
However, ten years earlier they were the proprietors of the Otter Lake Hotel in the Adirondack foothills of Forestport, Oneida Co., N.Y., which (as shown below) was packed with guests every summer.
My grandmother ran the kitchen and oversaw the hotel staff. My grandfather tended to the bar and led tourist excursions to surrounding lakes and mountains. In the winter, he ran the Charboneau Brothers School Bus Service with his brother Orville (who everyone called Tom).
Their previous hotel careers
The Otter Lake Hotel was across the road from a railroad stop, which transported vacationers from sweltering cities to the cool surroundings of New York’s forested North Country. My dad told endless stories about the activities at the hotel during tourist season since he essentially grew up there.
If you went by the 1950 census, though, you’d never imagine that my Grandpa C, a grocery clerk, and Grandma C, a homemaker, had such an interesting past.
As they entered their late 50s and their five sons – Owen, Francis, Hubert, Fred and my dad, Norman – had left the nest, my paternal grandparents no doubt realized that running the hotel was a bit much. Plus, tourism was changing with more families having cars that could take them to all sorts of destinations.
So, in 1947, they packed it in and moved to Holland Patent for a simpler, semi-retired life. That’s where the census enumerator found them in 1950 — living near two of their married sons.
Up next, my other Holland Patent relatives in the 1950 US census. Meanwhile, please visit the blogs of this week’s other Sepia Saturday participants.
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